Panic
in the Cabin Following Engine Failure on Southwest Flight

The
passengers aboard Southwest Airlines Flight 1380 could never have known how the
day would unfold. They boarded the 737 at La Guardia Airport in New York on
April 17, 2018, and the plane departed at 10:43 a.m. bound for Dallas. As the
plane reached about 32,500 feet, things began to go wrong.

According
to Kraidelman, the flight attendants worked with other passengers to drag
Riordan back into the plane. They were able to do so, but she was unconscious
and had sustained serious, ultimately fatal, injuries.

Audio
Recordings from Flight 1380 Capture Captain’s Calm Amidst Chaos

The people
in the cabin may have felt panic, but at the front of the plane, Captain Tammie
Jo Shults was an entirely different story.

Shults,
who was formerly a pilot in the Navy, can be heard in audio recordings
discussing the incident and her plan to safely land the plane. She uses
measured tones that do little to give away how harrowing the moments were.

Tammy Jo Shults - The pilot who was hailed a 'hero' after successfully landing a stricken plane after a mid-air explosion was one of the first female fighter pilots in the US Navy. A True American Hero! #SWApic.twitter.com/YaptAWj88p

Throughout
her conversation with air traffic control, the even-keeled Southwest Airlines
pilot is heard calmly stating that part of the aircraft is missing and that
she'll have to slow down as she maneuvers the Boeing 737 to the ground. An interaction captured between
Shults and air traffic control at 11:17 a.m. shows the severity of the situation, and that even
then the captain remained calm.

Captain Shults: OK, could you
have the medical meet us there on the runway, as well? We’ve got, uh, injured
passengers.

Air Traffic Control: Injured
passengers, OK. And are you — is your airplane physically on fire?

Captain Shults: No, it's not on
fire, but part of it's missing. [Pause] They said there was a hole and, uh,
someone went out.

Air Traffic Control: Um, I’m sorry,
you said there was a hole and somebody went out? [Pause] Southwest 1380, it
doesn’t matter. We’ll work it out there. So, the airport's just off to your
right, report it in sight, please.

Passengers
aboard Flight 1380 were grateful for Shults' calculated response to the
incident. Many spoke to the media and took to sites like Twitter, Instagram and
Facebook to thank Shults and acknowledge her actions.

Diana
McBride Self was one of those passengers, saying on Facebook:

"Tammie
Jo Schults [sic], the pilot came back to speak to each of us personally. This
is a true American Hero. A huge thank you for her knowledge, guidance and
bravery in a traumatic situation."

Alfred
Tumlinson, a Texas man who was also aboard the flight, told the Associated
Press that Shults had "nerves of steel."

"That
lady, I applaud her," Tumlinson said. "I'm going
to send her a Christmas card—I'm going to tell you that—with a gift certificate
for getting me on the ground."

Shults has
not spoken publicly about the April 17th incident since it occurred,
but Southwest Airlines posted a statement from both Shults and the flight's
first officer, Darren Ellisor, on the company's Twitter account on April 18,
2018.

As Captain and First Officer of the Crew of five who worked to serve our Customers aboard Flight 1380 yesterday, we all feel we were simply doing our jobs. Our hearts are heavy. On behalf of the entire Crew, we appreciate the outpouring of support from the public and our coworkers as we all reflect on one family’s profound loss. We joined our Company today in focused work and interviews with investigators. We are not conducting media interview and we ask that the public and the media respect our focus.

Captain
Shults Loved Flying Since Her Youth

Shults'
quick thinking and careful response to the tragedy on Southwest 1380 come after
a lifetime spent pursuing a career as a pilot.

Originally
from Tularosa, New Mexico, Shults lived not far from Holloman Air Force Base
and knew early on she wanted to be a pilot. She even attempted to take part in
aviation career day at Tularosa High School while a student there, but was told they did not accept
girls.

Shults
eventually decided to attend MidAmerica Nazarene University and studied biology
and agribusiness, but her dream of becoming a pilot prevailed, and after
discovering a girl in the Air Force class of a friend's brother, applied to
join.

The Air
Force, however, would not allow Shults to take the test to become a pilot, and
so she turned to the Navy, where she would become one of the first female
fighter pilots for the U.S. Navy and one of the first women to pilot an F-18.
Shults went on to become an instructor pilot with the Navy before resigning her
commission in 1993 and joining Southwest Airlines as a pilot.

Longtime
friends of Shults say that the calm and composed demeanor she exhibited during
the emergency is nothing new. According to them, that's how she operates.

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